Looks like the Chinese Get theirs - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

aklim · #1 09-19-2008, 11:13 AM

http://www.charter.net/news/read.php?ps=1012&rip_id=%3CD939ELC00%40news.ap.org%3E&_LT=HOME_LARSDCCLM_UNEWS

Chinese parents seek answers on tainted baby milk
Thursday, September 18, 2008 7:52 PM EDT
The Associated Press
By ANITA CHANG Associated Press Writer

SHIJIAZHUANG, China (AP) — Hundreds of Chinese parents, some cradling infants, converged on the company at the heart of the tainted baby formula scandal Thursday, demanding refunds and asking what they can safely feed their children.

Thousands of others filled hospitals, many hovering over sons and daughters hooked to IVs after drinking milk powder tainted with melamine, a toxic industrial chemical that can cause kidney stones and lead to kidney failure.

The scandal highlights the changing family dynamics and economic growth in China. A generation ago, women had little choice besides breast-feeding. Now, supermarkets are filled with dozens of brands of baby formula, marketed to women who work outside the home after they give birth.

Yao Haoge, an 11-month-old baby with two large kidney stones, had been drinking Sanlu formula since she was born because both of her parents work. They had been puzzled by their little girl's fevers and dark urine, but it never occurred to them that she had kidney stones brought on by her formula.

Now, like many of the babies at the Peace Hospital in Shijiazhuang, Haoge has an IV drip hooked into a vein in her head.

"We don't make much money, but we wanted to buy good milk powder," said her father, Yao Weiguan, a day-laborer from a small town an hour's train ride from Shijiazhuang.

"We thought it was good and now it's given us problems. And we spent quite a bit of money too."

Baby milk powder laced with melamine, used in plastics and fertilizers, has been blamed in the deaths of four babies. More than 6,000 others have been sickened. Some 1,300 babies, mostly newborns, remain hospitalized, with 158 suffering from acute kidney failure.

Questions continued to swirl Thursday about the handling of the scandal by milk producer Sanlu Group Co. and government officials.

The company reportedly received complaints about its formula as early as March and tests revealed the contamination by early August, just before the Olympics. Sanlu went public with a recall on Sept. 11 after its New Zealand stakeholder told the New Zealand government, which then informed the Chinese government.

Melamine has no nutritional value but is high in nitrogen, making products with it appear higher in protein. Suppliers trying to cut costs are believed to have added the toxic chemical to watered-down milk to cover up the resulting protein deficiency.

The scandal has not been confined to Sanlu, one of China's best-known and most respected brands, based in this dusty northern Chinese city. The country's quality control watchdog has found that one-fifth of companies producing milk powder in China had melamine in their products.

"Who do you trust? I don't know. If such a big company is having problems, then I really don't know who to trust," said a 31-year-old man surnamed Yang, waiting in line outside a Sanlu office to get reimbursed for his 7-month-old daughter's medical exam and kidney ultrasound.

Yang, who refused to give his full name, held a bag with a can of Sanlu milk powder he planned to return for a refund. The formula cost $21.60, a significant amount of money for working families in China.

"What happens if something else goes wrong in the future? Is it just kidney stones? What if there are other problems?" said Yang, whose daughter checked out fine.

Parents traded tips on which brands were still considered safe after news that products from China's top dairy producers — Mengnu and Yili — were also found to be tainted.

"Now we have no idea what kind of milk to give the baby. They all have problems," said a woman surnamed Wang, the mother of a 1-year-old who had been drinking Sanlu formula for two months. "There are ... brands that are OK, but I can't remember the names."

At a nearby Sanlu processing facility, hundreds of people waited for refunds. Some held a half-empty pouch, while others hauled in cases of the formula. A red banner at the plant declared: "Pay attention to food safety, ensure the public's health."

Police in northern China's Hebei province, where Sanlu is based, arrested 12 more people Thursday, bringing the total to 18. Provincial police spokesman Shi Guizhong said six suspects allegedly sold melamine, while the others were accused of adding the chemical to milk.

The widening crisis has raised questions about the effectiveness of tighter controls China promised after a series of food safety scares in recent years over contaminated seafood, toothpaste and pet food tainted with melamine. In 2004, more than 200 Chinese infants suffered malnutrition and at least 12 died after being fed phony formula that contained no nutrients.

Panicked parents across the country were rushing to hospitals, wondering whether their children had been sickened by their formula.

"I have no choice but to give my son solid foods now even though he still wants the milk formula," said 26-year-old Wang Yucun, waiting in line at the Beijing Children's Hospital with her 11-month-old, Zexun, who has been drinking Sanlu and Yashili products since birth.

"What I want to know is why the exported milk products and milk products given to Olympic athletes were carefully inspected but the Chinese people suffer with poor quality products," Wang said.

"I thought I was buying a quality product because it comes with a government seal of approval. At least that's what I thought until now."

———

Associated Press reporter Chi-Chi Zhang in Beijing contributed to this report.

Gurkha · #2 09-19-2008, 11:35 AM

Very sad.......innocent babies died.

aklim · #3 09-19-2008, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurkha

Very sad.......innocent babies died.

Not to me. Maybe they will stop using toxic chemicals in Pet Foods, painting figurines with lead paint, etc, etc. Besides, they are overpopulated anyways and it is over there as opposed to over here so it's all good in my book. If a few million of them die and it stops them from doing that nasty stuff to our stuff, I'm good with it.

Gurkha · #4 09-19-2008, 11:49 AM

You feel good that babies died? No matter what, right or wrong, its a sad situation. By the way, why blame the Chinese, why doesn't our government stop import of dangerous harmful stuff from China in the first place? Impose stringent rules and bar offending firms from ever doing business with the US. Actually its our greed that makes us import tainted contaminated food and other items from China and its their greed that drives them to neglect the safety aspect. Both parties are equally guilty.

aklim · #5 09-19-2008, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurkha

You feel good that babies died? No matter what, right or wrong, its a sad situation.

By the way, why blame the Chinese, why doesn't our government stop import of dangerous harmful stuff from China in the first place?

If it makes their govt stop the funky stuff, you bet. Better them than us. I'd rather 1 million of their kids die than 100 of ours.

Never blamed the Chinese alone. Now they are in it as deep as we are and they got their's like we got it. This might erect one more barrier. I don't think it should be up to the govt to interfere in commerce. If the problem gets bad enough, our companies are going out of business and that will take care of the problem. Their dead kids will add more incentive for their own govt to ban these practices.

Gurkha · #6 09-19-2008, 12:58 PM

I see..........so 1 million Chinese lives are worth 100 US lives to you. I would think human loss anywhere is a loss.

Angel · #7 09-19-2008, 01:02 PM

Isn't china the country where buisness/gov leaders are executed/tortured for screwing stuff up ? (head of chinese FDA a while back ? I forget the name or story)

?

-John

aklim · #8 09-19-2008, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurkha

I see..........so 1 million Chinese lives are worth 100 US lives to you.

I would think human loss anywhere is a loss.

Actually, far less than 100.

Not to me, it isn't. Is your wife's life worth more or less than Joe Blow? IOW, if you had to choose, which would you choose? I know I would choose my wife, followed by my dogs, followed by people I like, etc, etc. IOW, there is a pecking order.

aklim · #9 09-19-2008, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angel

Isn't china the country where buisness/gov leaders are executed/tortured for screwing stuff up ? (head of chinese FDA a while back ? I forget the name or story)

?

-John

Only if it gets too big where they cannot cover it up.

DieselAddict · #10 09-19-2008, 01:15 PM

Yup, this is nasty indeed, but I hope it'll be a wake-up call for China to get its act together. The Chinese people need to keep up the outrage and not let things like this slide by. This particular incident may have been confined to China, but many things aren't as they are the main exporter of a lot of things. Remember the lead-tainted toys they shipped to the US? Or the cough medicine tainted with antifreeze they shipped to Panama?

DieselAddict · #11 09-19-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angel

Isn't china the country where buisness/gov leaders are executed/tortured for screwing stuff up ? (head of chinese FDA a while back ? I forget the name or story)

?

-John

Yes, but most of the people involved usually get away with it. The govt usually just picks a scapegoat, executes him, and calls it good, case closed.

DieselAddict · #12 09-19-2008, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gurkha

Very sad.......innocent babies died.

I agree it's sad and as a parent myself I dread experiencing what these parents are going through. Also sad is the fact that frequently it takes deaths for governments or companies to start acting, and not just there but here too.

aklim · #13 09-19-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DieselAddict

Yup, this is nasty indeed, but I hope it'll be a wake-up call for China to get its act together. The Chinese people need to keep up the outrage and not let things like this slide by. This particular incident may have been confined to China, but many things aren't as they are the main exporter of a lot of things. Remember the lead-tainted toys they shipped to the US? Or the cough medicine tainted with antifreeze they shipped to Panama?

Maybe it can be looked on as Cosmic Karma. They killed a few people and now a few of them died. Sure, the buyers bear some responsibility too but now the sellers are paying in the same coin as the buyers.

Dee8go · #14 09-19-2008, 01:33 PM

If Aklim runs for president, I'm not voting for him. I wouldn't want HIS finger on "The Buttom."

Your dogs come before other people?! Sheesh! That's cold, man.

Botnst · #15 09-19-2008, 01:34 PM

Whose finger would you want on your buttom?